Avatarverse
TV series ''The Last Airbender'' (2005–2008) Book 1: Water (2005) After the show was picked up for a full series in late 2003, production for Book 1 began on early 2004. Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Dante Basco, Mako Iwamatsu and Dee Bradley Baker reprised their roles from the pilot and the main female protagonist's name was changed from Kya to Katara, while Mitchel Musso did not reprise his role as Aang, instead then eleven-year-old Zack Tyler Eisen replaced him. Sometime before production, Iroh, who was originally going to be the main antagonist of the series, was changed to more During production, English actor Jason Isaacs was confirmed to voice Zhao, after producers designed the character with the actor in mind. Production of the series continued during summer 2004, when Johanna Braddy was confirmed to voice Yue, princess of the Northern Water Tribe who would be a love interest for Sokka in the season finale who would meet her end. Production was concluded on December 2004 and the first TV promotional adverts aired during December 2004 and January 2005. Book 2: Earth (2006) After the unexpected success of Book 1 in May 2005, Nickelodeon renewed the series for two more seasons. With this, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko always hoped for the series to have three seasons. Production began on June 2005, with Eisen, Whitman, DeSena, Basco, Iwamatsu and Baker reprising their roles. Toph was first developed prior to the production of Book 2, when the character was going to be a male character who would be Aang's Earthbending mentor. However, the creators decided to change the character to a possible 12-year-old love interest for Katara. Luckily enough, Konietzko decided that the character would instead be female after being told by one of his female friends, that the character should be female because fans wanted another female member for the then-unnamed heroic team. The original drawing for Toph later appeared in the book Avatar: The Last Airbender - Art of the Animated Series. Also, Azula was originally going to be a male character too, under the name Azulon. However, the creators decided to change the character to a female as the show lacked a female antagonist. Grey DeLisle joined the series during July 2005, voicing Azula after the creators designed the character with the actress in mind, notably by her black hair and red lips, while Jessie Flower, who voiced Meng in "The Fortuneteller" joined in August 2005, voicing Toph. During production, Cricket Leigh and Olivia Hack signed on and officially voiced Mai and Ty Lee, respectively. In January 2006, after strong fan response of "The Warriors of Kyoshi", Jennie Kwan officially confirmed her return as Suki. Production continued until it was officially wrapped on May 12, 2006. Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced Iroh, passed away on July 21, 2006 from esophageal cancer, aged 72, a day after he was officially confirmed to be voicing Splinter in TMNT. Greg Baldwin, who was good friends with Iwamatsu, took over the voice role of Iroh alongside with the other roles that Iwamatsu voiced such as recording the remaining lines for Splinter in TMNT ''and Aku in ''Cartoon Network Fusionfall. Concidentally enough, Baldwin accurately imitated Iwamatsu's voice for the series. Book 3: Fire (2007–2008) Originally scheduled for an April 2007 date and the series finale scheduled for a November 2007 release, it was rescheduled due to the death of Mako Iwamatsu (who voiced Iroh in Book 1 and 2) during mid 2006. Also "Sozin's Comet" was intended to be a three-parter, however the script for the episode was too long for a three-part episode, so the creators and Nick agreed to extended the finale to four parts. Production for Book 3 began on October 2006, months after Mako Iwamatsu's death and a month after the series returned from its two-month hiatus. Eisen, Whitman, DeSena, Flower, Basco, DeLisle, Baker, Leigh and Hack reprised their regular roles, while Mark Hamill and Jennie Kwan became series regulars as the voices of Ozai and Suki respectively, after their recurring roles in Book 2. Greg Baldwin took over Iwamatsu's role as Iroh. Production continued until December 2007. The series ended with two unresolved cliffhangers. The first was what happened to Zuko and Azula's mother and the second was Azula's fate. With the cliffhangers happening, most fans wanted to see more episodes, however the creators said that the show would not have a fourth series dubbed "Book 4: Air" as they said on Nick Radio that the show would be impossible to have a fourth series because the Airbenders were wiped out prior to the series. ''The Promise'' (2012) In the end of the second part, Zuko begins to start another war. The third and final part concluded the story and Azula's fate revealed. During July 2012, the final page of the third part was leaked. It shows Azula, now mentally insane, in a straitjacket and in a wheelchair, followed by Zuko asking her what happened to their mother. Azula later sees a vision of their mother in a mirror, saying she actually loves her than hating her as told by her father, followed by Azula asking Zuko: "What exactly happened to our dear mother?", revealing that Azula is also worried that without their mother, she would stay mentally insane, leading to The Search. The leaked page received mostly mixed reviews by fans, saying that Azula shouldn't be like that. However, some fans have said Azula will recover from her breakdown in the first part of the sequel. ''The Search'' (2013) The follow-up to The Promise is about Zuko and Azula (now no longer insane and currently rehabilitated) with the help of Aang (now focusing on his own life than focusing on tradition after severing ties with Avatar Roku) finding their mother and more explanations on how Azula's behaviour was like while in mental hospital, plus Team Avatar will have a minor role in the graphic novel. ''The Rift (2014) ''The Rift ''was first announced on July 2013 and it involves Toph beginning to ''The Legend of Korra ''(2012-) The show was originally called ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra in its preproduction stages, but due to the name now copyrighted by James Cameron, it was renamed as The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra during production. But it was later shortened to The Legend of Korra, fuelling speculations that the show is not part of the franchise however the speculations soon ended. Book 1: Air (2012) Preproduction for Book 1 began on early 2010. The show was originally scheduled to air in mid 2011, but due to the critical failure of The Last Airbender, the show was moved to October 2011, until during production, it was finally confirmed that the series would now air in April 2012. Book 2: Spirits (2013) The show has been renewed for a third and a fourth series. The second series will expand more on the Avatar State. The series will showcase Team Avatar with new clothing, followed by Iroh II and Tahno joining Team Avatar. In the new series, Tenzin's siblings Kya and Bumi will become major characters, Bolin gets a new love interest, Asami takes over her father's business after his arrest, Zuko's yet-to-be-named daughter with Mai will make an appearance, Zuko and Katara will appear in a few episodes, followed by Sokka's children with their mother being presumably Suki, Azula, Yue or Ty Lee. The identity of Toph's husband who was also Lin's father is rumoured to be revealed as well. Plus, Aang, Toph and Sokka will also return in flashbacks and Suki will appear in flashbacks as well. A possible return of Yue and the Kyoshi Warriors are also strong possibilities for appear on the show as well. All cast members from Book 1 will reprise their roles in the second series as well. On July 30, 2012, Grey DeLisle, who voiced Azula in the original series, confirmed her involvement in the series and said her character is similar to Azula, implying that she would be the granddaughter of Azula, although she will also a new character called the Dark Spirit. According to The Music Channel magazine on September 2012, it was hinted that Haru, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, Longshot, Smellerbee, June, Suki, Teo, Tom Tom and Zuko would appear in Book 2 as allies of Team Avatar who woul help them with their journey as Katara is told that some of her friends are still alive, meaning that some of her friends and family (Sokka, Toph and Aang) are now deceased, this was later refuted. Production for Book 2 began during May 2012 and was officially completed on November 12, 2013, ten days before Book 2 ended its run. Due to strong fan response of 10,000 posts started by KorraSpirit, the final two episodes of Book 2 debuted online on November 16, 2013 at Nick.com, hours after the penultimate two episodes were aired on Nickelodeon. Early online reviews of the final two episodes have been mixed to positive, but overall it was met with mixed reviews. Book 3: Change (2014) Production for Book 3 began on October 2013 and concluded on March 2014, three months before its TV premiere. Despite low ratings, Book 3 was more well recieved than Book 2, but on July 23, 2014, Nickelodeon pulled the show from circulation with "The Terror Within" becoming the last episode to air on Nickeldoeon, with the final five episodes of Book 3 and the entire Book 4 expected to air on Nick Video instead. Future projects Possible third series It has been rumoured that after The Legend of Korra ends, the show would continue with a new series which would be about a male Earthbender who becomes the Avatar after Korra. The series would be set in a modern Republic City, but it has not been confirmed by Nickelodeom. Possible reboot It has also been rumoured that if the series becomes a ratings disaster, the whole franchise would be rebooted as a modern-day series featuring characters from both series. Possible TV series adaptation of The Promise It has been rumoured that The Promise will be turned into a 12-part TV miniseries after the early success of the graphic novel. Episodes Characters Team Avatar (Heroes) ;The Last Airbender *Aang (voiced by Zack Tyler Eisen in the first series, D.B. Sweeney in the second series, played by Noah Ringer in the film) - Aang is the one of the three characters to appear in every episode (alongside with Katara and Appa). He has a major role in "The Promise" and "The Search". **Age: 12 (book 1-2), 13 (book 3), 14 (The Promise), 66 (at the time of his death) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Brown (shaved) **Eyes: Hazel **Bending: Air **Spouse: Katara *Katara (voiced by Mae Whitman in the first series, Eva Marie Saint in the second series, played by Nicola Peltz in the film) - In the second series, Katara – now 83 and a grandmother – reveals all of the original Team Avatar have died however Zuko is in fact alive. She has a supporting role in "The Search". **Age: 13 (book 1-3), 14 (The Promise), 83 (The Legend of Korra) **Status: Alive **Hair: Brown (formerly), Grey **Eyes: Blue **Bending: Water **Spouse: Aang (deceased) *Sokka (voiced by Jack DeSena in the first series, Chris Hardwick in the second series, played by Jackson Rathbone in the film) **Age: 17 (book 1-3), 18 (The Promise), presumably 50s-60s (at the time of his death) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Brown **Eyes: Blue **Bending: N/A (he is a non-bending Water Tribe member) **Spouse: Suki (presumably, deceased) *Toph Bei Fong (joins in "The Blind Bandit", voiced by Jessie Flower in the first series, Kate Higgins in the second series) **Age: 12 (book 2-3), 13 (The Promise), presumably 50s-60s (at the time of her death) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Black **Eyes: Green-gray **Bending: Earth **Spouse: Unknown *Zuko (joins in "The Avatar and the Firelord", voiced by Dante Basco in the first series, played by Dev Patel in the film) - Like Katara, he is one of the only two surviving members of the original Team Avatar in The Legend of Korra. **Age: 17 (book 1-3), 18 (The Promise), 87 (The Legend of Korra) **Status: Alive **Hair: Black (formerly), Grey **Eyes: Golden brown **Bending: Fire **Spouse: Mai (presumably) *Suki (joins in "The Boiling Rock", voiced by Jessie Kwan in the first series, played by Jessica Jade Andress in the film) - Suki appears in "The Promise", but had a minor role in Part 3. She is presumed to have a supporting role in "The Search". She is only member of Team Avatar not mentioned in The Legend of Korra, however according to ATLA magazine, she will appear in a flashback in book 2. **Age: 17 (book 1-3), 18 (The Promise), presumably 50s-60s (at the time of her death) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Auburn **Eyes: Blue-green **Bending: N/A (she is a non-bending Earth Kingdom member) **Spouse: Sokka (presumably, deceased) *Appa (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Alongside with Momo, Appa has a minor role in "The Promise". **Fur: White and brown **Eyes: Brown *Momo (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) ;The Legend of Korra *Korra (voiced by Janet Varney in the second series) **Age: 18 (book 1), 19 (book 2) **Status: Alive **Hair: Brown **Eyes: Blue **Bending: Water *Mako (voiced by David Faustino in the second series) **Age: 17 (book 1), 18 (book 2) **Status: Alive **Hair: Black **Eyes: Golden brown **Bending: Fire *Bolin (voiced by P.J. Byrne in the second series) **Age: 17 (book 1), 18 (book 2) **Status: Alive **Hair: Black **Eyes: Green **Bending: Earth *Asami Sato (joins in The Voices of the Night, voiced by Seychelle Gabriel in the second series) **Age: 18 (book 1), 19 (book 2) **Status: Alive **Hair: Dark brown **Eyes: Dark green **Bending: N/A (she is a non-bending Earth Kingdom member) *Naga (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) *Pabu (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) Allies *Iroh (voiced by Mako in book 1-2 of the first series, Greg Baldwin in book 3, played by Shaun Toub in the film) - Is mostly absent in "The Promise" part 1 and, only to appear in the third part. He is set to appear in "The Search". **Age: 50 (book 1-2), 51 (The Promise), presumably 60s-70s (at the time of his death) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Black (formerly), Grey (balding) **Eyes: Brown **Bending: Fire *Ty Lee (voiced by Olivia Hack in the first series) - Unlike Mai, who is mostly emotionless, Ty Lee has a happier personality. **Age: 15 (book 1-3), 16 (The Promise) **Status: Presumed dead **Hair: Brown **Eyes: Brown *Mai (voiced by Cricket Leigh in the first series) - In "The Promise" part 2, Mai and Zuko break up after Zuko betrayed Team Avatar, the same time an agreement for the four nations failed, which explains why she and Ty Lee were absent in the third part. It is possible that in the upcoming sequel "The Search", she reconciles with Zuko and presumably marries him in the epilogue and later had a daughter named after Zuko's mother and their daughter later had a son named after Zuko's uncle. It is unknown whatever happened to her after the epilogue. **Age: 17 (book 1-3), 18 (The Promise) **Status: Presumed dead **Hair: Black **Eyes: Golden brown *Yue (voiced by Johanna Brady in the first series, played by Seychelle Gabriel in the film) - In the end of book 1, Zhao kills one of the fish that are balancing the Waterbending powers. With this, Yue had no choice but to sacrifice her life to become the new Moon Spirit. With this, she would later live on the moon for her eternal life. She does reappear in a few episodes of books 2 and 3. She is considered to be Sokka's first girlfriend as they had a romantic interest. Despite her status as a reccuring character, she was number 2 in the Top Ten ATLA Fan Favourite Supporting Characters list on the April 2012 issue of ATLA magazine. **Age: 17 (book 1-3) **Status: Physically deceased, technically alive **Hair: White, formerly brown **Eyes: Light blue **Bending: Water *Kuei *Bumi **Age: 112 (book 1-2/at the time of his death) *Freedom Fighters (Jet, voiced by Crawford Wilson, Smellerbee, voiced by Nika Futterman, Duke, Pipsqueak, Longshot and Sneers) - In Season 3, only Pipsqueak and The Duke appeared in the series finale, however Smellerbee, Longshot and Sneers appeared in "The Promise", with the former two appearing in parts one and three and the latter appears in all three parts. **Age: 12-18 **Status: Disbanded/deceased **Hair: Brown (Jet), auburn (Smellerbee), dark brown (Duke), brown (Pipsqueak), black (Longshot) and light brown (Sneers) **Eyes: Brown (All) **Bending: N/A (they are Earth Kingdom natives) **Haru (voiced by Michael Dow) **Teo (voiced by Daniel Samonas) Past Avatars *Avatar Roku (voiced by James Garrett as an adult and Andrew Caldwell as a teenager) *Avatar Kyoshi (voiced by Jennifer Hale) *Avatar Kuruk (voiced by Jim Meskimen) *Avatar Yangchen (voiced by Tress MacNeille) Anti-heroes *June (voiced by Jennifer Hale) *Joo Dee (voiced by Lauren Tom) *Tahno (voiced by Rami Malek) Villains *Zhao (voiced by Jason Isaacs in the first series, played by Aasif Mandvi in the film) **Age: 45 (book 1) **Status: Deceased **Hair: Brown **Eyes: Brown **Bending: Fire *Azula (voiced by Grey DeLisle in the first series, played by Summer Bishil in the film) - She appears in the last page of "The Promise", she is indeed mentally ill. She is set to appear in "The Search", where she switches to the good side and joins forces with Zuko and Aang in search of her and Zuko's long-lost mother. **Age: 14 (book 1-3), 15 (The Promise) **Status: Presumed dead **Hair: Dark brown/black **Eyes: Amber brown **Bending: Fire (later cured by Aang in the epilogue) *Ozai (voiced by Mark Hamill in the first series, played by Cliff Curtis in the film) - In "The Promise", he tells Zuko that Aang was never his friend. He is set to appear in "The Search" **Age: 45 (book 1-3), 46 (The Promise) ***Status: Deceased **Hair: Black **Eyes: Brown **Bending: Fire (later depowered by Aang) *Long Feng (voiced by Clancy Brown in the first series) *Amon (real name: Noatak, voiced by Steven Blum in the second series) *Tarrlok See List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters for more details. Films ''The Last Airbender'' (2010) The film became a critical disaster from critics and fans. Despite criticism, the film became a box office hit. Future sequels After the film's success, Nickelodeon made no announcement on whether the sequels have been greenlit or canceled due to fans' hatred of the film. However, it has been reported that a director's cut of the film will be released in probably in 2013 or 2014. The director's cut have been praised by fans. The cut contains deleted scenes such as the appearance of Suki (Jessica Jade Andress) and the Kyoshi Warriors. If the sequels happen, the second film will be based on the second series and the third film will split into two films and probably be filmed back to back as well. In late 2012, director M. Night Shlaymalan has confirmed in his Facebook page that the script of the sequel is almost complete. However given that the film was not well recieved, the sequels will likely not happen. Reception Avatar: The Last Airbender ''recieved critical acclaim, while ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra ''also recieved critical acclaim, although some critics have criticised the short length of episodes. Book 2 of ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra ''recieved mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the storyline and the dark themes but criticising the lack of character development for characters Desna and Eska, though the characters were praised for their dark image and voice actors of the characters Aaron Himelstein and Aubrey Plaza recieved positive reviews for their voice acting. The Mako/Bolin/Eska subplot for two-part episode "Civil Wars" recieved mostly mixed to negative reviews, criticising the breakup of Bolin and Eska's relationship and the slave-like feel of the relationship alongside with lack of comedy. Also the breakup of Mako and Korra as a couple from "Peacekeepers" recieved mixed to negative reviews. Despite decreasingly low ratings for the next three episodes due to timeslot changes, "The Sting" and the two-part episode "Beginnings" recieved critical praise with the latter two episodes (which is now the third lowest-rated episode of the sequel series) considered by some fans and critics as the greatest episodes of the series, despite the absence of Avatar Yangchen and the "bending originated in lion turtles" controversy that confused fans with several fans saying that airbenders got their powers from sky bisons, waterbenders got their powers from studying the moon, earthbenders got their powers from badgermoles and firebenders got their powers from fire dragons. Book 3 was well recieved than Book 2, with critics calling it superior to Book 2 and praising its much darker tone. Fan reception for Book 3 was also positive. Adrenaline TV *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water ''- 90% "acclaim" *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2: Earth - 93% "acclaim" *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3: Fire ''- 95% "acclaim" *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 1: Air ''- 92% "acclaim" *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 2: Spirits ''- 76% "positive" *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 3: Change'' - 94% "acclaim" Average ratings: 91.6% Metacritic *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water ''- 9.3/10 (user rating, universal acclaim) *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2: Earth ''- 9.1/10 (user rating, universal acclaim) *''Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3: Fire ''- 8.6/10 (user rating, universal acclaim) *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 1: Air ''- 8.4/10 (user rating, universal acclaim) *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 2: Spirits ''- 7.2/10 (user rating, generally favourable reviews) *''Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book 3: Change'' - TBA Average ratings: 8.52/10